Hundreds of anguished Venezuelans have poured into the streets of downtown Caracas crying, hugging each other and shouting slogans in support of President Hugo Chavez after learning of his death.
Fifty-eight-year-old Chavez, the fiery populist who declared a socialist revolution in Venezuela, crusaded against US influence and championed a leftist revival across Latin America, had been ill for nearly two-years with cancer.
Clusters of women with tears streaming down their faces clung to each other and wept near the Miraflores presidential palace.

The news of his death was announced by the country's Vice President Nicolas Maduro on national television.
During more than 14 years in office, Chavez routinely challenged the status quo at home and internationally.
He polarized Venezuelans with his confrontational and domineering style, yet was also a masterful communicator and strategist who tapped into Venezuelan nationalism to win broad support, particularly among the poor.
Chavez repeatedly proved himself a political survivor.
As an army paratroop commander, he led a failed coup in 1992, then was pardoned and elected president in 1998.
He survived a coup against his own presidency in 2002 and won re-election two more times.
The burly president electrified crowds with his booming voice, often wearing the bright red of his United Socialist Party of Venezuela or the fatigues and red beret of his army days.
Before his struggle with cancer, he appeared on television almost daily, talking for hours at a time and often breaking into song of philosophical discourse.

The world needed more leaders who would often break into song during public addresses.

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"I'd rather be judged by twelve than carried by six."